The Sandbox

GWOT hot wash, straight from the wire

Welcome to The Sandbox, a forum for service members who have served or are currently serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, returned vets, spouses and caregivers. The Sandbox's focus is not on policy and partisanship (go to our Blowback page for that), but on the unclassified details of deployment -- the everyday, the extraordinary, the wonderful, the messed-up, the absurd. All correspondence is read, and as much as possible is posted, lightly edited. If you know someone who is deployed who might have something to say, please tell them about us. To submit a post click here.

TOY TERRAIN TEAM |

December 18, 2012

Being a parent and uncle to a couple of grade-schoolers, I make regular
patrols through toy stores, monitoring trends and prices, and
maintaining a target list of potential birthday and holiday presents.
Between Key Leader Engagements (K.L.E.) with Ken and Barbie, I also keep eyes out for new superhero gear and die-cast cars. I'm like a one-man Toy Terrain Team (T.T.T.).

It's not all fun and games. The toys we make and buy for our children
are part of our national narrative. When new military tools and
technologies show up in miniature on our toy department shelves—Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (U.A.V.), for example, or bomb-proof trucks—it
says as much about our society's present-day values as it does our
military tactics. To repurpose the old Army truism about training: "We
play like we fight, and fight like we play."

Toys are also likely points of entry to conversations with children
about war and service. "Your dad used to ride in that kind of truck when
he was in the Army," I've heard myself saying, or "Your papa used to
fly in a plane like that when he was in the Air Force ..." Afghanistan
and Vietnam are big abstractions, but toys can help young heads and
hands understand some of the basics. Even if the only lesson they walk
away with for now is "Dad was in the Army, Papa was in the Air Force."

Matchbox has recently released a 1:64-scale version of the Oshkosh M-A.T.V.
The word is an acronym within an acronym. Unpacked, it means
"Mine-Resistant Ambush-Protected All-Terrain Vehicle." The real-world
vehicle is manufactured by Oshkosh Corp., Oshkosh, Wis.

By comparison, the M-ATV is a sedan. It's hard to see out from the back
seats, too, which makes it less fun for us rubber-neckers.

The 2012 Matchbox version of the M-ATV comes in dark forest green with a
billboard-high graphic "M-ATV" decal on each side: Hip-hop camouflage
for hot-rodding through the bomb-ridden swamp. It also appears to be
"licensed" design, which means the toy's manufacturers have permission
to make the scaled-down version look like the real thing.

The M-ATV is lighter and more maneuverable than other M-RAP variants,
after all, but it's not going to float. It's going to sink like a
plate-armored rock.

According to the packaging, rather than protecting occupants from
Improved Explosive Devices (I.E.D.), the toy version is more likely
intended to keep the crocodiles at bay:

You've got to be extra tough to survive the Jungle! These off-road and
4WD vehicles are built to handle the most hostile terrain imaginable.
Rugged safety vehicles scramble through the dense foliage protecting
passengers from the fierce wildlife and extreme conditions!

At least the exterior paint job is arguably military in nature. In 2011, the first Matchbox versions of a Matchbox "SWAT Truck,"
apparently inspired by the MaxxPro silhouette, were first available in
either black-and-white or powder-blue law-enforcement livery. No
camouflage in sight. The MaxxPro-like design also appeared later in fire-engine red, as part of an Matchbox "MBX Airport" series.

I still say: If you need an M-RAP truck to carry your baggage, you're flying out of the wrong airports.

Some of the doubt and debate about U.S. military acquisitions strategy involves whether or not M-RAP trucks were good investments.
Some people argue that M-RAP trucks may or may not have saved lives. Or
that they pushed troops into a hunkered-and-bunkered mindset that was
contrary to counterinsurgency ("COIN") and advise-and-assist
practices. In terms of sharing risks and hardships, or developing
face-to-face relationships, after all, it's hard to get Afghan civilians
and soldiers to take you seriously if you're sitting in a bomb-proof
truck.

Still, no other U.S. weapon design better exemplifies my era's ground
conflict in Afghanistan than the M-ATV. I may not be able to put an
M-RAP in my garage, but I can sock one away in my war-toy chest.

In fact, I bought three. Because it's never too early to teach your kids about good convoy operations. It's a jungle out there.